The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has been required to update all basin management action plans (BMAPs) by July 1. As part of this requirement, FDEP is adding five-year milestones to each BMAP, where they didn’t previously exist.
FDEP has allocations assigned to each entity in the BMAP. Agriculture is assigned an allocation in each BMAP, and FDEP assigns a nutrient reduction for total nitrogen and/or total phosphorus, depending on each BMAP. Several BMAPs have their first five-year milestones in 2027 or 2028 and will be expected to have projects in place to meet 60% of their assigned nutrient reductions.
For agriculture, the main way to meet these reductions is by enrolling in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Best Management Practices Program. Those interested may participate in the FDACS cost-share program. Learn about some recent changes and new opportunities in the cost-share program here.
In surface water BMAPs, FDEP is working on modeling updates to better determine the allocations that should be assigned to each entity. For example, the St. Johns River model is anticipated to be completed in 2028. This means that allocations will be updated for six BMAPs in the St. Johns River area, so the goal posts will be shifting in 2028.
For springs BMAPs, FDEP is using a spreadsheet called the Nitrogen Source Inventory Loading Tool to determine loading to groundwater and to the springs.
FDEP has been holding public meetings to discuss the BMAP updates, and Florida Farm Bureau Federation (FFBF) staff has been in attendance. FFBF staff will continue to attend these meetings as well as the modeling meetings to ensure that FDEP is using the best available data for agricultural producers.
More details on BMAP update progress can be found here.
Source: FFBF
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